Life Moves On

Another year has come and gone. There are some things of which we have absolutely no control. One of those is the ticking of the clock.

Time moves on. Life moves on. We take whatever it gives us.

And we run with it.

As 2006 began we were planning for the February wedding of our oldest son. David and Holly were married on February 11th in Augusta, GA. It was an incredible weekend and the result was that we gained a new wonderful daughter in law. David and Holly got settled in their new home in Atlanta and both are blessed to be gainfully employed and working in great situations.

Also when the year began I took on a new position with my company. The increased responsibilities were overwhelming to say the least. After earning over 100,000 sky miles, logging around 40,000 miles in my car and no telling how many Hilton Honor and Priority Club points, I somehow managed it all and grew in the process.

As far as the speaking circuit, I didn’t speak nearly as many times I have in the past years because of my schedule at work but I probably spoke to more people.

And I am very aware and thankful for the unique opportunity I have to do what I am privileged to do.

A few months ago I recorded a new CD that will be released under a label called Senate Records. Although the producer was unable to release it when planned because of some unforeseen circumstances, it should be released in a matter of weeks. Be sure to look out for it.

Kathy and I got the news in June that we are going to be grandparents. In September we found out the new addition would be a little girl. For a couple who has raised a bunch of boys, the prospect of a brand new baby girl joining our family is almost too much excitement to bear. Not only are John and Tami going to be parents but John became the fifth generation Goddard to work in the funeral business. To see him flourishing in his role and enjoying what he is doing is not only making his daddy proud but I have a feeling there are some others with his last name smiling from heaven.

Luke has finished his second year in college and while going to school, he spent seven months this year working as what used to be called an “orderly” at the Medical Center of Central Georgia. He decided he definitely does not want to be a nurse for the rest of his life but he did get some great stories out of it. Luke has many creative genes and he and a couple of friends have made some videos this year that will make one laugh. Out loud.

Kathy has proven again that she is the most patient person in the world. Not only does she have to put up with me, but she also looks after her aging mom who lives with us. To have watched her serve her mother day after day this year has been nothing short of amazing.

In July I entered the world of blogging. I have now posted 160 articles on this site and written about whatever happened to be on my mind on a particular day. I hope I have entertained, motivated or inspired some of you. At the least I am creating some stuff for my kids and grandkids to read one day.

The last few days have been difficult for us. Dr. Whatley, who I have written about and have spoken of so many times all over the country, suffered a stroke on December 27. He has spent his days and nights this year looking after his beloved Rosemary, who is unable to take care of herself.

Their children have been in Reynolds the last five days taking care of their mother at home and their dad as he recuperates at a Macon hospital. And working on plans as to what they do next.

I have stopped by Dr. Whatley and Rosemary’s house numerous times this year. I stop by and visit for two reasons. One is because they are like my second parents and I have known and loved them both all my life. The second is because they are one of the few close connections to my own parents who are left.

There will always be tough spots and challenges along the way but I will continue to choose to look for the silver lining in whatever clouds that come our way. I have diligently attempted to keep before me the fact that growth only takes place when there is rain mixed with the sunshine.

It’s all a blessing.

The rain and the sunshine. The hard times and the good times.

Time moves on. Life moves on. We take whatever it gives us.

And we run with it.

Happy New Year.

Fast Times in Reynolds, GA

I received a letter from my friend Donald (Preacher) Powell yesterday. I wrote about him a few days ago. If you need your memory jogged you can CLICK HERE to read that article.


Donald reminded me of some fast times we had in the early to mid sixties at the Reynolds National Guard Armory when promoter Fred Ward brought wrestling to town.

When I look back on those days, we didn’t have a lot to do in Reynolds in the way of entertainment.

Besides church activities, we attended high school basketball games, baseball games and track meets. The people who played on those high school teams were our real life heroes. We idolized those high school stars.


Then all of a sudden our horizons were expanded. The wrestling stars began to come to town on Saturday night. I still have a mental picture of the posters that were on the store windows in town letting us know who would be on the “card” for the next Saturday night. We were introduced to such wrestling stars as Choo Choo Lynn, Mario (Spider) Galento, Don Carson, the Kentuckian, Jack and Bob Armstrong, the Inferno’s and Sputnik Monroe.

There was much strife that came from those wrestling matches among us twelve and thirteen year old boys though. Some older boys brought up the fact that it was a possibility the whole thing could be fake. There were many arguments among friends about the validity of such claims.

Some of the wrestlers came to our high school basketball games. They didn’t get to watch much basketball because we would be hanging around them in the stands hounding them and begging for autographs.

The villains in the ring were kinda scary. Some of them wore masks and some were just plain mean looking. There was a door from the men’s restroom that opened into the wrestler’s dressing room at the Armory. Some of the braver boys would beat on the door. When one of the villains opened the door and came out we would scatter to the four winds.

The Inferno’s were the meanest tag team that ever came there. They always had foreign objects in the ring and at the end of the match they would light a fire in the eyes of their opponents. We assumed a lot of wrestlers lost their sight but somehow they would be back for the next match seeing just fine.

The biggest frenzy always happened when one of the good guys would try to unmask one of the Inferno’s. The crowd would go absolutely nuts hoping to get a glimpse of the villain’s face. It never happened.

At least in the ring it never happened. The rumor was that Glenda Parks, a local high school beauty, actually dated one of the Inferno’s. When we discovered that, we boys would follow Glenda after the match to try to get a glimpse of the unmasked Inferno in case she left with him.

There weren't just kids at these matches either. There were a lot of adults in our community and surrounding area that took their wrestling very seriously.

Donald reminded me of the night Mrs. Eula Bryan, who sat on the front row, got really mad with one of the masked wrestlers because she thought he had a foreign object. She made some rather poignant remarks to this particular wrestler when he was thrown out of the ring in front of her. The rumor was that he spit on her. I’m not sure if that happened or not.

What I am sure of is that she stabbed him in the butt with an ice pick.

They had to call Dr. Whatley to come down to the Armory to work on the wrestler’s butt. That broke up Saturday night wrestling for a while.

It ended many years later after a large scale free-for-all involving the spectators and the wrestlers. Mattie Julie Pitts hit one of the wrestlers over the head with a folding chair. A real fight broke out that night.

Every good thing has to come to an end I suppose.

But names like Choo Choo Lynn, Spider Galento and the Inferno’s are etched in my memory forever.

Those were some fast times at the National Guard Armory.

At least that was as fast as it ever got in Reynolds, Georgia.

Nothing is Impossible With God

When I grew up, Sunday church lasted no more than an hour and Sunday school was about 45 minutes. They had a few people show up for Sunday night services and less than that for the Wednesday night service. Each sermon consisted of three points and a poem. Some could deliver those points better than others and those ministers had bigger churches than the ones who were less talented.

Things are changing in the church world.

A few weeks ago we visited Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church in Atlanta with our son and his wife. They have a different method of doing church. And what they are doing is working. The church we attend in Warner Robins is on the leading edge of using different methods to reach people. And that strategy is also working.

Michael Catt, the Senior Pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, believes his church can reach the world from that South Georgia town.

I happen to believe him.

We went to see the movie, “FACING THE GIANTS” last night. The movie was produced by Sherwood Pictures, Sherwood Baptist’s unique filmmaking ministry. The cast of the movie was made up of local volunteers. Alex Kendrick and Stephen Kendrick are associate pastors at Sherwood Baptist. These two, along with their brother Shannon, wrote and produced the movie. Alex played the lead part of the head football coach. The coach’s wife in the movie was played by the real life coach’s wife at Sherwood Academy in Albany. And the list goes on.

It took six weeks to film this movie with a two week break in the middle. Incredibly the movie was shot with one high-definition camera and edited on a PowerMac –G-5 computer using some purchased software. Sherwood Pictures rented video and film equipment and work trucks.

Sherwood approached Provident Music Group in Nashville for permission to use songs by Provident artists Third Day and Casting Crowns. Provident’s president viewed the film, liked what he saw and began discussions with Sherwood to oversee the film’s distribution. Provident Films showed the film to Sony Pictures. Samuel Goldwyn Pictures, through its relationship with Sony, agreed to distribute the film nationally.

Nothing is impossible with God.

I did not know any of those facts about the making of the movie when I went to see it yesterday. My impression at the beginning of the movie was that you could tell the acting was not professional. I was wondering where they got these actors to play these parts.

I don’t know if the acting got better or what, but within 30 minutes I didn’t think about the acting again.

I was caught up in the story of the movie and more importantly the message of the movie. And I can tell you I cried more at this movie than I did when Old Yeller died in his movie.

And I left this movie motivated and with a stronger desire to face my giants and a stronger desire to help others face theirs.

When I saw Old Yeller I just wanted to go pat my dog.

The underlying message of the movie is that we all face giants in our lives. And no matter how big the giant and how impossible the situation looks, nothing is impossible with God.

Critics will say (and have said) the movie is unrealistic because it represents that if you have faith in God all your problems will work out to your satisfaction.

Those critics miss the point.

The message is simply that our faith can be exercised in all facets of our life and nothing is impossible with God.

Just a suggestion from a country undertaker…

If you are facing giants in your life and you really don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, take the time to go see this movie.

Oh.. be sure to take some tissues with you. You will need them.

But be prepared to leave with a new perspective on life.

May We Never Forget

My dad served in the Navy in World War II. As I got older I began to really appreciate the stories he told about the time he served as Lieutenant on the USS Mendocino. He loved his country and he had great respect for those who sacrificed life and limb for the cause of our freedom.

Last night I found a letter my dad wrote to his mother in law while in port at an island somewhere in the South Pacific. He talked about looking forward to coming home and joining his dad in the family business in Reynolds, GA.

He was able to do that and lived a great life and raised a family in his hometown of Reynolds. He always said he was a better man for serving our country. But the truth is many of those brave Americans defending our country do not make it back.


One of those heroes who never made it back was a Second Lieutenant Army Air Force Fighter Pilot from Reynolds, Georgia by the name of Benjamin Hodges. He was shot down defending a little village in France on June 20, 1944, exactly two weeks after D-Day.

Ben also had a brother in the Navy. Walton Hodges, Jr flew torpedo planes off aircraft carriers. Walton Jr, who I knew well, made it back to Reynolds and raised his family there.

Benjamin’s death not only broke a mom and dad’s heart but he also left a young wife from Reynolds by the name of Dorothy Brunson Hodges. She would later remarry another fighter pilot who served in World War II.

My dad always spoke with much pride and respect for the Hodges brothers and their service to our country in World War II. There is a marker for Benjamin Hodges at Hillcrest Cemetery in Reynolds on the Hodges lot. My dad told me years ago that Benjamin’s boots are all that is buried there.


I found out today through an email that his foot is buried in St Laurent, Normandy, France at the American Cemetery, the cemetery depicted in the motion picture, Saving Private Ryan. His body is buried with his plane in a soggy area in a little village in France. The mayor of that town owns that property. Some cousins of the Hodges brothers visited the burial site in Normandy and the site of the crash in Rouy-le-Petit recently and have shared some photos of what they found. They also left some Georgia red clay at his grave in Normandy and also at the crash site. They explained to their tour guides that the crash site reminded them of Reynolds, GA.


This town in France is planning on honoring Benjamin for sacrificing his life while defending their town from the Germans over 62 years ago. They are delighted to hook up with his relatives in the United States and get information they had no idea they would ever get. Some of the Hodges family is planning on going to France for that ceremony.

My dad would be absolutely flabbergasted that the world would ever become small enough to make this connection. The internet truly is incredible.

In a day when many young people in our country are looking to movie stars, athletes and rock stars as heroes, I thought it would be good to introduce some real heroes.


Eugene Walton and Winifred Newsom Hodges (picture shown here of Mrs. Winnie) produced two of them. From the little town of Reynolds, GA, their two sons (Walton, Jr and Benjamin), who were two years apart in age, became fighter pilots in two different branches of the service at the same time during the same war.

One of them is being honored in a little town in France for his heroic actions.

Both of them are being honored on this blog by the son of one of their best friends.

May we never forget.

So Good. So Good.

The Godfather of Soul died yesterday in Atlanta. He was 73. Anybody who grew up in the era I did knows the Godfather of Soul.

I feel good. I knew that I would. So good. So good. I got you.

James Brown, Soul Brother Number One, was to rhythm and blues, soul music and funk what The Mick was to baseball. You couldn’t watch him perform or listen to him sing without having the urge to stand up and do the funky chicken.

James Brown made a lot of white boys look rather foolish trying to dance to his music.

Brown grew up in poverty in Augusta Georgia. He shined shoes for a living and one of the places he did his work was outside WGAC Radio Station in Augusta. The Swanee Quintet had an afternoon radio program there and they were always nice to him.

Their kindness paid off.



In later years, the Quintet was hired by James Brown to open his shows. They touched Europe and most of the United States performing before thousands of people in sold-out auditoriums. In 1993, Augusta Georgia honored the Quintet with their own Boulevard, “Swanee Quintet Boulevard.”

The Swanee Quintet has performed at such places as Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, Harlem’s Apollo Theater and the House of Blues.

And the Reynolds National Guard Armory. In Reynolds Georgia no less.

I found out this information a while back on a trip to Elliott Funeral Home in Augusta. Percy Griffin, an employee at Elliott’s, is a long time member and lead singer with the Swanee Quintet and a friend of the Godfather of Soul.


Percy invited me to lunch when I was in town a few years ago and I took him up on his offer, jumped in his car with him and the two of us took off. The lunch was at his church, The United House of Prayer for All People, in Augusta. Percy told me about his friendship and long time relationship with James Brown and of some of his experiences as part of Brown’s opening act (see photo of Percy singing with James Brown).

He also surprised me with the information that his group played at the Armory in Reynolds several years ago. There can’t be many groups who have played at Carnegie Hall and the Reynolds Georgia Armory. But I assure you, Percy Griffin and the Swanee Quintet did. Percy told me all about it.

I haven’t talked to Percy since I heard the news that the great James Brown had passed away. But I will definitely give him a call. I’m sure Percy will be involved in the funeral service in some way so I will give him time to get past that.

I’m also sure Percy is in a real funk right about now.

I didn’t feel too good when I heard the news of Brown’s death myself. But one thing is for certain, his music always made me feel good.

So good. So good. Cause I got you.

Some Things You Just Don't Forget

A lot of frantic work goes into celebrating this day. We have created lists and fought crowds at malls and shopping centers. We have worried if we forgot someone. Gifts have now been exchanged. We gave and we received. Santa has now come and gone and we are left with a lot of trash bags filled to the brim and wondering what day the garbage collectors are coming this week.

The truth is in a few months we will be hard pressed to remember any of the gifts we gave or received this year. Many of the battery operated toys we gave our kids or grandkids won’t even be working in a few months.

But there are some things we will remember.

When I was growing up we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve at Mama’s house. She did that so the married children could be home with their own families on Christmas day.

Every year we all gathered at the Reynolds United Methodist Church to take communion early in the evening on Christmas Eve. If one of us really wanted to upset Mama on Christmas Eve all we had to do was to not show up for communion. In other words we all showed up. Always.

The church would be open for a couple or three hours. The preacher would be there for the entire time serving the sacrament. Families would go in together. When our family entered the building, we would greet another family who was leaving and then wait in silence on another family being served. Each family would speak to other families in whispers and there would be a lot of hugs with life long friends we lived and worked with every day. A heartfelt “Merry Christmas” was always whispered in the ears of those you hugged.

On every Christmas Eve, I always think about those family communion services at the Reynolds United Methodist Church. I remember the way Mama made sure we began our Christmas celebration. We were on our knees at the altar of her beloved church taking the Lord’s Supper as a family.

Then we would all go to her house and eat the best food in the world and enjoy each other. I can tell you there was a lot of conversation and a lot of laughter in that house on Christmas Eve.

Tomorrow her children and grandchildren (and several great grandchildren) will gather at our house to celebrate Christmas and to celebrate the legacy our parents left us. Our parents are no longer with us but they continue to be very much alive in each of us.

There will be a lot of conversation and a lot of laughter and a lot of fellowship among people who genuinely love each other. And we will remember all the times we have spent together during this special time of year.

And we will celebrate our faith which was instilled in all of us by our amazing parents many years ago.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6).

May Ed and Naia Goddard rest in peace on this Christmas day. And may they know their kids have not forgotten them or the true meaning of Christmas.

Some things you just never forget.

Maybe There Will Be More

All my boys were at our house last night along with our two daughters in law and a girlfriend. We did Christmas a couple of days early at our house.

We went to see “We Are Marshall” this afternoon. I had a few motives for wanting to see this movie. It is another movie worth taking the time to go see.

I was a junior in high school when the entire Marshall University football team, coaches and some prominent boosters were killed in an airplane crash. That tragedy has never been erased from my mind and I was interested to see the story depicted on the big screen.

I also have visited Huntington West Virginia on many occasions while traveling with my company. West Virginia was part of my area of responsibility a few years ago. I have driven through the campus at Marshall and I have also seen the memorial in the cemetery.


There is something else very interesting about this movie to me. My daughter in law, Holly, is in it. I don’t think I have ever watched a movie at a theater while sitting next to one of the actresses appearing on the big screen.

But I did today.

Holly is actually not an actress by profession. She lives in Atlanta and read in the newspaper in early April that part of this movie was being filmed in the Atlanta area. They were having an open casting call asking people who are interested to come out and apply to be an extra in the movie. She thought it would be fun so she went to a hotel in Atlanta and filled out an application and had her picture made.


If you look at Holly’s picture here you can’t help but notice how she might have a good chance to be chosen for the part.

About two weeks after having her picture made, Holly got a call asking her if she was available on certain dates for the shooting of the film. She went three times for about 12 hours at a time for the filming. The first two times were for the Diner scene where she actually appears in the movie. For the shooting of the crash scene, she got there at 4PM one afternoon and left at 6:30AM the next day. She left that shoot to go to her regular job after being up all night.

When she went to the shoot they always did her hair and makeup and dressed her for winter time in the early 1970’s. You never see her in the crash scene although she and about 30 others were there and dressed for the part.

You do see Holly in the Diner scene during the first game of the season while the team is losing. She is sitting at the counter in the diner talking to a young girl. The young girl, Chelsea, happens to be Mark Snyder’s real life daughter. Mark is the current head football coach at Marshall University.

So Holly Goddard has officially begun her movie career. She put in a lot of effort for a really quick appearance on the big screen in this movie but she says it was worth the effort.

She will always be able to say that she appeared in a movie starring Matthew McConaughey. Maybe this will be her last movie. Maybe there will be many more.

If you would like an autographed photo of my gorgeous movie star daughter in law, just shoot me a line and you can get one for a nominal fee.

All proceeds will go to the Holly and David spring vacation fund which is a very worthy cause.

Who knows? An autographed picture of Holly Goddard may be worth a lot of money one day.

Hope Y'all Can Make It

A few days ago my wife asked me to send a mass email to the Goddard folks (about 30 in number) who will be attending the Goddard Christmas Family Gathering at our house during Christmas. She asked me to give directions on how to get to the house to those who may need them and also to tell them to bring drinks and dessert. I thought that it would be a good idea to invite my blog readers as well. Hope y’all can make it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


If you are coming down the road you need to drive about 2 hours or 4 hours or 30 minutes according to where you are coming from. When you get to that place where they had that bad wreck several years ago and that dog got loose and bit that man you are not far from where you turn. After you turn look for that sign that advertises the hotel being only three miles ahead. When you get to that hotel you have gone a little bit too far.

After you turn around turn left and stay on that road until you get to that Mexican restaurant that went out of business. (Me and Kathy didn't think that place would make it cause we hardly ever saw any cars there. When we did see cars they were old ones). Turn right not far past that place and stay on that road until you get to that trailer park where the man got shot for trying to beat up his wife. (Me and Kathy think he should have got shot for trying to beat up his wife. He was a sorry no good so and so. He is already out of jail so you may want to be careful when you go by). Look for that Handy Quickly that never has any ice and hang a left there. When you get to where that woman moved from that works at Kathy's school you need to turn right. Go on down that road until you get to the Kraft's house. We are right next door. If you go to the Nesmith's house you have gone too far. You should be able to recognize the Nesmith's house cause sometimes they are out workin in the yard. The Kraft house will be easy to spot cause it usually has a car or two in the driveway.

As far as what to bring, we think if everybody brought some soup and maybe some fried fish and cheese omelets or sumpin like gat would be good. We have plenty of chocolate covered nuts so there is no use to bring anymore of them.

Last year there was some confusion on the gifts. We had a drawing and for some unforeseen reason everybody drew my name. We didn't want to do that again cause I was the only one getting presents last year. So this year, to be fair, I moved my name from the bowl we drew from and put it in another bowl. Doggoned if we didn't draw out of the bowl that had only my name in it when we did the drawing. So everybody drew my name again.

I'm sorry it worked out like gat but we tried to be fair this time.

If any of y'all have any questions, please let me know and I will be sure they get answered.

Lookin forward to the Goddard family Christmas gathering this year.

Tis the Season

Jim Whatley and I grew up next door to each other. When he was in college and I was about to become a senior in high school we started dating a couple of sisters who lived on the outskirts of town. I actually started dating Kathy before Jim started dating Lynn. Jim and Lynn double dated with us on their first date. I think the year was 1971. The four of us went to see a movie called, “Willard.” It was a movie about a bunch of rats.

We have been hanging out on all the special occasions since then. Jim and Lynn were married in 1974. Kathy and I married in 1977. Thirty five years, hundreds of rounds of golf, six children, two son-in-laws, three daughters in law, two grandchildren and one on the way later, we are still hanging out.

Jim turned out to be a medical doctor. I turned out to be a blogger.

Jim and Lynn and family just left our house. We stood in the driveway waving as their slammed packed SUV full of their children, in-laws and grandbabies drove off. As one could imagine we have spent quite a few Christmases together over the years. And quite a few vacations. And quite a few Thanksgivings. And quite a few New Years Eves.

And quite a few everything.

Jim and Lynn live in Rome Georgia and people know him as a successful, distinguished medical doctor. I know him much better than that. I knew him before he became a medical doctor. In fact I even know what kind of underwear he wears.


The underwear being modeled in the photo here by Jim and me was a Christmas present given in 1972 by our future wives’ Uncle Leon. He asked us to try them on to make sure they fit. When we did he snapped a quick picture.

The next Christmas he gave us both another gift. We each got a 4’ by 8’ poster of the picture he took the year before. Kathy brought a copy of this 34 year old picture out tonight.

Just one of the great memories we have of Christmas' past.


Our hair is a little grayer now and we have put on a few pounds, but we are still the same folks hanging around again for another Christmas.

There is nothing like hanging around the people you are most familiar with during this special time of year. Tis the season for family, for giving, for laughter, for fellowship and for special memories.

Tis the season for bringing out old pictures.

And making new ones.

The One and Only Dealer Downs

Dealer Downs Scott and I became friends about 30 years ago. Soon after I got married in 1977, I bought a new Ford truck from him. I paid him $4,000. It had a manual transmission, no air-conditioner and only an AM radio. But that sucker was brand new and it was mine.

He got the name Dealer Downs because he was a wheeler and a dealer in the car business. He was always working on a deal and always had a story to tell.

Dealer left the car business and bought the local Chevron service station in Reynolds and began operating it. At the same time, my brother and I were operating our new Goddard Red & White Grocery store across town, along with a couple of funeral homes and the ambulance service.

When Downs became a business owner in Reynolds, he soon went to school and became an Emergency Medical Technician. Since I was one of those as well, we began to spend a lot of time together doing training and riding the ambulance at all hours of the night.

We were trained just enough to be dangerous but we found ourselves in all kinds of situations. I remember the night we were in the back of the ambulance with a woman trying to have a baby and the water broke in an explosive manner in our face. There was one baby foot hanging out. Downs asked me what in the world we should do. I told him to go tell the driver (my brother) to drive faster. The situation was way past our training.

I also remember the Saturday night we both were trying to make deposits and had cash all over our desks at our businesses and we got a call about someone finding someone dead in a building on the outskirts of town. We left the cash and met at the ambulance and took off with sirens glaring and lights flashing. When we got there we found a couple of drunks. One drunk thought the other drunk was dead. They both just needed a hot shower.

I could go on and on about our experiences on the ambulance but we always figured out how to have a good time no matter the circumstances. Dealer always kept me in stitches. He was always working on a deal and always had a story to tell.

Dealer eventually sold the Chevron Station and opened a little restaurant in town called what else but the “Dealer Burger.” It was there that Downs became an institution in Reynolds. The Dealer Burger was not only where many people ate three meals a day but it became the local gathering place in Reynolds. People went for the conversation as much as the food. Both were great.

I remember by dad shooting a pistol in the air (only blanks) when he discovered there was no fresh coffee. Everybody in the place hit the floor and for a split second thought he had gone postal. And there was the time Dealer was jumping around, screaming and hollering because he thought he had won the Florida lottery… only to find out later that his friend Sydney Bryan had played a practical joke on him.

Downs later closed that business and entered the insurance business. It was during this time that he began working with me at the funeral homes. We were no longer riding the emergency ambulance but now we were riding the hearse at all hours of the night.

Our friendship grew. He always kept me in stitches. And he was always working on a deal and always had a story to tell.


The last few years Dealer has had some major physical challenges as a result of his almost lifelong battle with diabetes. Even when his kidneys shut down he always kept me in stitches. He was always working on a deal and always had a story to tell.

Dealer made the biggest deal of his life earlier this year. He got himself a kidney transplant. And all of a sudden he started getting better.

Although we talk on a regular basis, I drove over to his house today in Reynolds to visit. We spent a couple of hours reminiscing. We have more funny stories of our time together than you can shake a stick at.

As usual he kept me in stitches.

From the perspective of an undertaker, you need at least six real friends in this life. You need that many to haul you to the cemetery.

The original one and only Dealer Downs would definitely be one of my six.

If He Didn't Make It - We're In a Heap of Trouble

Being someone who has dealt with the news of the death of someone more times than you can possibly imagine, you would think I take it all in stride.

On Sunday afternoon after the funeral in Reynolds I have already written about, a friend came up to me and gave me some news of a death that made me stop in my tracks.

His simple words: “I just found out that Joe Luce passed away today.”

Joe Luce, along with his two brothers, George and Buddy, from nearby Fort Valley, Georgia took Blue Bird Body Company to every corner of the world by their familiar yellow school bus with the stylized bird above their windows.

The company now known around the world was founded by their father, Albert L. Luce, Sr in 1927 when a friend asked Mr. Luce for a bus to transport his workers. This simple request gave him an opportunity to create the first Blue Bird school bus. A highly successful corporation was born. In fact, this company became the number one school bus company in the world.

Devout Christian men, this dad and three sons built their company on Christian principles and continued operating it with those same principles. They treated their employees like family and offered worship services at the plant for those who wanted to participate.

Not only did they successfully grow their company, but these Christian businessmen had a heart for missions and they spent their lives investing themselves and their resources for the cause of Christ in other parts of the world. They supported hundreds of missionaries throughout the world and heaven only knows what and who else they supported.

I remember one very small example that was huge to me that I have never forgotten. My brother and I went out on a limb in the late 70’s and booked a nationally known contemporary Christian music group to come to the little town of Reynolds for a concert. I thought it would be simple to sell tickets for this concert and get the money back we had committed to bring this group to town.

It turned out that the people in middle Georgia had no idea who this nationally known group was and selling tickets seemed to be impossible. In fact, the day of the concert we hadn’t sold enough tickets to pay the light bill.

We went ahead with the concert anyway. One of Joe Luce’s daughter’s came up to me that night while I was sweating bullets and whispered in my ear that her dad would take care of whatever we were short. It turned out that we had a large crowd and collected just enough funds to break even. But her words and her dad’s offer sure did help me to enjoy the moment.

There is no telling how many people this family has supported financially over the years for the cause of Christ.

One of Joe Luce’s pet projects was El Sembrador Vocational School for Boys in Honduras. Not only was he the main reason this place existed but there is no telling how many trips he made there or how often he arranged for supplies to be shipped there. My brother in law and I had the privilege to go there in the early 90’s to spend a week. My eyes were opened to the effort there and to the impact these missionaries were having on these Honduran boys. It was an incredible experience and one that I never forgot. Joe Luce was stamped all over it.

Joe Luce was involved in other world wide efforts through World Gospel Mission where he served on the Board of Directors. He also supported other Christian organizations including his local church and Indian Springs Holiness Camp Meeting. I have already mentioned about me attending Indian Springs every summer during my formative years.

People like George and Buddy and Joe Luce don’t come along very often in a lifetime. They have made an incredible impact on their world.

Buddy is the only brother left now. But the work these three brothers began will continue for generations to come.

Tomorrow afternoon (Wednesday) my friend, Rev. Jim Hamlin, will tenderly commit Joe Luce’s human earth suit to the ground. There will be a huge crowd of family and friends looking on.

But his spirit is already with God.

I can tell you if he didn’t make it, the rest of us are in a heap of trouble.

The Pursuit of Happyness

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

As you know, these words are out of the Declaration of Independence. They are also right out of a movie we went to see tonight. The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith is a movie worth going to see.


The movie is based on the true story of the life of Chris Gardner(pictured here) who literally lived on the streets of San Francisco with his toddler son while pursuing a job as a stockbroker with Dean Witter. Somehow he made it.

In fact, he made it big time.

This is one of those movies that causes one to think. And, as I have mentioned before, that has to be a good thing.

It is interesting to me that the Declaration of Independence does not promise us the right to be happy. But it does say we all have the right to pursue happiness.

There is a difference.

In my opinion most people are not pursuing happiness. In fact, I think the majority of people are not in the pursuit of anything. Most people are living their lives just to get by and have pretty much thrown the towel in on their unalienable right to pursue happiness.

They go to work, come home in the afternoon and sit in their chair and watch television. They get up the next morning and go to work doing the same thing and come home in the afternoon and do the same thing.

They live with people they don’t even like and pretty much make everybody around them miserable. Maybe they have been knocked down so many times that they finally have given up.

As a lifelong undertaker, I am keenly aware that we have only one shot at this thing we call life. And we are absolutely nuts if we are not pursuing happiness with everything that is in us.

Pursuing happiness means actively building relationships with other people. Pursuing happiness means doing things that will make others around us happy. Pursuing happiness means spending quality time with our children and our families. Pursuing happiness means trying to be the best we can be at whatever it is we have been asked to do. Pursuing happiness means having a sense of humor so that others enjoy being around us. Pursuing happiness means giving to those who are less fortunate. Pursuing happiness means working harder than everyone else. Pursuing happiness means making sure we have balance in our life. Pursuing happiness means having priorities in life. Pursuing happiness means we are relentless in our attempt to understand the true meaning of life.

In my opinion, pursuing happiness is finding out what God put us on earth to do and going after it with every fiber of our being.

The message of the movie we saw tonight was that the pursuit of happiness comes with blood, sweat and tears. It is not a defensive lifestyle as most people lead, but a lifestyle of being on a mission.

None of us have an unalienable right to be happy. The truth is there will be many times when we are not.

But we do have the right to pursue it.

I think this time of the year is the perfect time to step up the pursuit.

The Greatest Generation

(Reynolds, GA) Everybody should have had the privilege of growing up in a small town. As I have said many times, I wouldn’t take a million dollars for growing up in Reynolds, GA.

I went back home today and got to see some folks I haven’t seen in a long time. These people are not just acquaintances. They are lifelong friends, and as I have mentioned before, the friendships are generational. These folks are family to me.


I was there not under the best of circumstances. I was in town to speak at a funeral. I don’t remember when I first met Ted Parks. I’ve known him all my life. And it was an honor to be asked to speak at his funeral service at the First Baptist Church today.

Ted Parks was a very big man. He was big physically and he was also big in many other ways.

He left Reynolds as a teenager many years ago because he wanted to make sure he got his high school education. His parents believed in hard work and made sure their children worked in the fields. Ted knew if he stayed at home he would either have to drop out of school because of the work required of him or he would fall behind in his studies and be in a position to fail.

He moved 40 miles away to Macon to live with his older brother. He got a job at a laundry to support himself. He attended a much larger high school there and started playing football. He was a good enough football player to be offered a scholarship at the University of Georgia when he graduated. He did play for the Bulldogs and should have been a member of the 1943 Bulldog team that played UCLA in the Rose Bowl. He had enlisted in the US Navy and was in the South Pacific when his teammates were preparing for that game.

When he returned from the war, he continued his college education at Mercer University. He played football there and had an invitation to play pro ball by two teams but turned them down because there was not enough money in it and he had already started a family. He got a degree in Economics at Mercer and had a minor in Physical Education.

He lived in Reynolds all his working life and spent his entire career working at a nearby Air Force Base as a civilian employee. He also farmed on the side.

When Ted was a young man he was the person the county called upon when someone drowned. He would be called upon to dive to the bottom of the river or ponds in the county to pull a body from the bottom. Today people wear wet suits and air tanks and go through a lot of training to do such diving. Ted did it on sheer athletic ability with no training.


Ted also was a musician. He played a pretty mean guitar and also played the harmonica. His wife remembers him singing to her many times during their younger married days.

On many occasions during my adult life in Reynolds, I sat at a breakfast table with Ted and some of his buddies and drank coffee and listened to the stories. He was plain spoken and very opinionated. And he was one of the most interesting people I ever talked to in my life. Sometimes he would be funny when he was not trying to be funny and sometimes he would be funny with a purpose.

He was big enough and strong enough to never have to back down from anyone. But his heart was tender enough for him to be moved to tears when the discussion came to his family, his country, priorities and spiritual truths.

He didn’t drink or smoke. He would tell you in a heartbeat that he hated a drunk. But some of his favorite people in the world were people who had problems with alcohol.

That says almost everything you need to know about Ted Parks.

Another thing you should know is that he and his wife, Mattie, celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary a week before he died. That says almost everything else you need to know.

I spoke to his oldest daughter yesterday morning.

She said all the rest you need to know about her dad in one simple sentence.

“He was my hero.”

And the other two children echo her sentiments.

As I drove out of Reynolds today I had one thing on my mind. You just don’t see many people like Ted Parks anymore. Another member of the “Greatest Generation” who helped pave the way for the rest of us has passed away.

And I just don’t think we are replacing folks like that.

My Conscious is Clear

This morning my wife and mother in law and I got out and did a little shopping. Very little shopping on my part actually. We stopped to get a sandwich at lunch and while eating I told Kathy I sure would like a homemade chocolate cake.

She promised she would make one this weekend.

Tonight I drove over to the Country Club in Dublin, GA to speak at a bank Christmas party. When I pulled in the parking lot I saw a very familiar face.


My friend Rena Bowden was standing in the parking lot. Rena and her husband Jim live in the Dublin area and their daughter in law works at the bank where I was scheduled to speak. Rena knew I was coming so she came out early to catch me before the banquet began. (Rena is pictured here with her son and daughter-in-law, Matthew and Ashley)

Rena told me she had something for Kathy and she pulls out a homemade chocolate cake. God was speaking to Rena today and Rena was listening. Nobody makes a chocolate cake like Rena Bowden.

And nobody likes Rena’s chocolate cakes more than this blogger.

She said the cake was for Kathy and she made sure to show me that the card on the cake had Kathy’s name plainly on it. That works great. Rena gives the cake to Kathy. Kathy doesn’t have to cook a cake as she promised. And I get to eat what I was talking about today at lunch.

I’ll get the cake. One act of random kindness kindly received.

I can’t pay Rena back so I pay it forward times three.

I give Kathy the door prize I won at the party. Pay it forward one time.
Kathy doesn’t have to cook a cake as she promised. Pay it forward two times.
I will let her have a piece of the cake. (Pay it forward three times).

I’ve done my duty. Received the act of kindness and paid it forward.

My conscious is so clear about this.

But now I have to figure out how to get this chocolate out of my laptop keyboard before I go to bed. It’s kinda hard to eat chocolate cake and write a blog at the same time.

Find Johnny

This picture made me laugh. It took a minute for me to find Johnny but when I found him I did laugh. Out loud.



I guess from the beginning of time every elementary school class has a Johnny. If you were really lucky you could have a couple of Johnny’s. If you had more than that nobody would learn anything.

Our Johnny was Donald Powell. No doubt about it. Hands down (or fingers up), Donald was the one who was always pushing the envelope. He made the rest of us look like angels.

Donald spent as much time in the hall as he did in the classroom. That was the progressive punishment. If you got sent to the hall three times you would then be sent to the principal’s office for a paddling. Donald spent a lot of time in the principal’s office.

In most of the classes his desk was always right beside the teacher’s desk. No way the teacher would even think about letting him sit with the general population.

I vividly remember the day Donald was sitting in his desk next to the teacher’s desk and was doing what the Johnny in this picture is doing. The difference was he was pointing at the teacher who had her back to the class and was writing on the blackboard. Everybody in the class thought it was quite funny. When the teacher turned to look at what everybody was laughing about Donald would put his hands down. This went on for a while. The teacher couldn’t figure out what everybody thought was so funny.

Donald was enjoying his classmates laughing and was looking back at his classmates and had taken his eye (but not his fingers) off the teacher. She turned around abruptly and caught him. Red handed.

We all quit laughing. Donald was sent to the office and since our classroom was very close to the principal’s office we all heard every excruciating lick during the paddling.

Another form of discipline was the receiving of demerits. A demerit was an asterisk next to your name in the grade book. Many of us boys got a few demerits. Donald’s demerits went all the way across the page of the grade book.

Donald’s nickname was Preacher. We called him preacher cause he cussed like a sailor.

No doubt about it. Preacher Powell was our Johnny.


But an interesting thing happened. He did become a sailor. After high school Donald joined the United States Navy and served our country well. When he returned he landed a job working for the United States Postal Service. It wasn’t long before he became the Postmaster in Reynolds and he has served in that capacity for many years. Everybody in Reynolds knows Donald Powell. And, trust me, everybody thinks a whole lot of him.

There is a moral to this story.

The little Johnny’s of the world who are hellions when they are growing up may just turn out to be very productive citizens. Just because they get sent out in the hall and have to sit by the teacher’s desk and have to go to the office for a lot of whippings, doesn’t make them bad people.

In fact they may just turn out to be the leaders in your community.

If you are ever in Reynolds and need help, stop by the post office and ask for Preacher Powell. He will be glad to give you a hand.

If he is busy I'm sure he will at least give you the finger.

Most People Don't Make It in Nashville

I made it back home tonight in one piece with plans (with the exception of a speaking engagement or two) to pretty much stay put until after Christmas.

But barely.

While walking the streets of Nashville last night and trying to watch people and look at store fronts and club names at the same time, I stepped off a curb, tried to catch myself and then stepped off another curb. To make a long story short I busted my rear-end on Broadway.

The people with me tried not to laugh but they did anyway. I think I fell for 10 minutes before I finally hit the pavement. I found out that I’m way too old for falling.

I’ve fallen many times before. I’ve fallen for a joke. I’ve fallen for more than a few girls. I’ve fallen in love and out of love.

And now I’ve fallen in Nashville.

Before I fell and lost my senses though, I was noticing and commenting about all the people who come to Nashville for the purpose to make it big in country music. They are everywhere. They come as aspiring musicians and songwriters. Everybody wants to be a star.

Most people don’t make it.

There is talent everywhere but the intangible that causes someone to take it to the next level in music is a rare thing.


While I was in Nashville I happened to get an email from my old friend and fraternity brother Bruce Burch. He emailed a photo of himself taken with Wayne Newton recently in Columbus. Bruce, a native of Gainesville, Ga., was one of those rare people who made it in the music business in the Music City.

When I knew Bruce in college he was a rock and roll fan. But somewhere along the line he heard a Kris Kristofferson album and before you could say Conway Twitty he had written his first country song.

He got so fired up writing songs that he moved to Nashville as so many others do to try to make it as a songwriter. It was five years before he got his first cut. That record never got released but he stuck it out.


Bruce had two #1 songs with Reba McIntyre – “Rumor Has It” and “It’s Your Call.” He had cuts with Faith Hill, George Jones, Aaron Tippin, T.Graham Brown, Billy Joe Royal, Wayne Newton, The Oak Ridge Boys, John Anderson… and many others.

My old friend also does not hesitate to give back. Each year he sponsors a benefit in memory of his friend and Nashville songwriter John Jarred. I have attended that event a couple of times. Proceeds go to local charities in the Gainesville area.

Bruce is now at the University of Georgia as Administrative Director of the Music Business program which he helped establish at the Terry College of Business. This program is designed to develop business leaders for the music industry.

Bruce Burch went to Nashville about 35 years ago, and unlike most folks, he made it big. He left with his head held high and is now helping others who aspire to make it in the music business.

I went to Nashville this week.

I left with a sore back and a bruise on my booty.

Crazy for Loving You

(Nashville) I’ve been traveling in Western Tennessee the last couple of days with a couple of business colleagues. We are staying in the Music City. I have been to Nashville only a couple of times in my life but I have been reminded that this really is the Music City.

We ate downtown tonight and it was neat seeing all the famous places I have heard about most of my life. One of those places we saw was the Ryman Auditorium, which was the home of the Grand Ole Opry for so many years. The country music stars who played at that auditorium are too numerous to even begin to count.

One of those stars was Patsy Cline who was killed in an airplane crash in 1963.

Her last concert was held in Kansas City on March 3, 1963. Just before she went to that concert, a conversation took place at the Ryman Auditorium between Patsy and Ray Walker, who was a member of the Jordanaires. As Patsy was leaving that night Ray said: “Patsy, honey, be careful, baby, we sure love you….” She was starting to go down the stairs at the back entrance of the Ryman, and she turned her head over her shoulder and said: “Honey, I’ve been in two bad ones… The third one will either be a charm or it’ll kill me.” Those were the last words she said at the Ryman Auditorium.


Earlier today while visiting Camden TN we came upon the site where country music legend Patsy Cline’s plane crashed. I insisted that we pull over to check it out. I could not believe how many people visit that site. Patsy’s fans have left notes and letters and caps and everything else you can imagine. We saw one note from a guy who had written to Patsy telling her how much he missed her and even left his telephone number.

I don’t think he will get a call from her.


The plane carrying Patsy and her manager and a couple of other country music stars crashed on the outskirts of Camden on their return trip back to Nashville from Kansas City.

After we stopped for a short visit to that site today, we visited a funeral home in Camden which was our destination in the first place. I met the former owner there, Gordon Wheatley, who I quickly found out went to the scene that night with his business partner and transported all four of the bodies back to their funeral home.


So not only do you get to visit the airplane crash site of Patsy Cline but you get introduced to the undertaker who removed her from the wreckage.

This blog gives you information you never thought you would know. Only at the View from a Hearse blogsite could you ever possibly get such information and be introduced to such famous Americans.

You just won't find this kind of stuff in regular newspapers and magazines.

I hope you have subscribed to this blog by now. This informative material will then come directly to your email address every time a new article comes out.

As you wait for the next article to be posted, be sure to check out some of that great Patsy Cline music and those famous lyrics:

You walk by and I fall to pieces. I fall to pieces each time someone speaks your name. I fall to pieces. Time only adds to the flame.

And I'm crazy for trying and crazy for crying.

And I'm crazy for loving you.

The Penalty of Leadership

The following words appeared in a Cadillac ad in 1915. The ad ran in response to Packard's ads. Packard was having a field day when defects were being discovered in Cadillac's new 1915 V8 Touring Model. This ad ran only one time and did not even mention the word "Cadillac."

Sales rebounded. Thirty years later it was voted the best ad of all time in the industry. In 1998, it was voted 49th out of the top 100 ad campaigns of all time.

Today I was in Chattanooga standing in an office of a business associate who is a proven leader. How do I know that? Because he has people who follow him. People do not follow someone unless that person has earned that privilege. Leadership does not come by position or title.

These words from this old Cadillac advertisement were hanging behind his desk on the wall in a large frame. The words have obviously inspired my friend.

They certainly inspired me today.

There really is a penalty of leadership.

__________________________________________________


In every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy are ever at work.

In art, in literature, in music, in industry, the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction. When a man's work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few.

If his work be mediocre, he will be left severely alone - if he achieves a masterpiece, it will set a million tongues a -wagging. Jealousy does not protrude its forked tongue at the artist who produces a commonplace painting. Whatsoever you write, or paint, or play, or sing, or build, no one will strive to surpass or to slander you unless your work be stamped with the seal of genius.

Long, long after a great work or a good work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious, continue to cry out that it cannot be done. Spiteful little voices in the domain of art were raised against our own Whistler as a mountback, long after the big would had acclaimed him its greatest artistic genius.

Multitudes flocked to Bayreuth to worship at the musical shrine of Wagner, while the little group of those whom he had dethroned and displaced argued angrily that he was no musician at all. The little world continued to protest that Fulton could never build a steamboat, while the big world flocked to the river banks to see his boat steam by.

The leader is assailed because he is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the follower seeks to depreciate and to destroy - but only confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives to supplant.

There is nothing new in this. It is as old as the world and as old as human passions - envy, fear, greed, ambition, and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing. If the leader truly leads, he remains - the leader.

Master-poet, master-painter, master-workman, each in his turn is assailed, and each holds his laurels through the ages. That which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how loud the clamor of denial.

Pajama Night

They are teachers and professionals and engineers and medical school students. They have also become family to us. We now have more kids. And we love it.

As I have mentioned before, our church has stopped Sunday night church and has gone to small groups meeting in homes throughout the city. We meet with a group of eight young married couples every week and we are having a blast.


They are getting fairly comfortable too. Last night was pajama night. All the girls came in their PJ’s and we ate breakfast before we gathered in the den. This photo shows Kathy with six of the eight girls who are part of this group all decked out in their pajamas on our sofa.

The beauty of a group like this is these kids have the opportunity to build relationships with each other. And believe me, the relationships these young adults are building with each other are the kind that will last forever.

I’m sure there are some people who think our church leadership has gone nuts. And they are appalled that the church members are not meeting in our huge church building on Sunday nights. The thought is we are supposed to meet in the church building on Sunday nights because that is the way we have always done it. Three songs and a sermon. Shake hands with a few people as you walk out the door.

Did my duty. Get me home.

I can tell you what our church is doing is working. It certainly works with our group. All eight couples come every Sunday night and if something comes up and a couple cannot come they will call. They cut short family weekend visits to get back to their small group. It is important to each of them.

We laugh together. We discuss everything under the sun as we discuss the assigned lesson. We apply Biblical principles to everyday life. They share their concerns with each other and they pray for each other. They pray for whatever they may be facing during the coming week.

It is something to watch. And it is an honor to be a part of it.

And there is a lot of lingering after we are done. I see a lot of girls hugging each other as they start to leave and the guys do the same. I also hear a lot of planning as to what they will be doing later on in the week and in some cases later on that night.

A few of the guys were heading to one of their homes to play video games last night. Saturday night they got together for a Christmas party at one of their homes.

The interesting thing is that most of these people did not even know each other a few months ago. The more I’m involved with this small group concept, the more I see the power of it. I can tell you it is not three songs and a sermon and let me get home as soon as I can.

But it is really the church – a fellowship where people are sharing burdens and sharing victories and doing life together.

And we are having a blast.

Fashion Y'all

(Birmingham, AL) I checked in a hotel here last night and picked up a magazine to read before turning the light off. The magazine opened to an article about a young entrepreneur from the Birmingham area who is also an aspiring actor in LA.

I was very intrigued by the article I read.

Mason McCulley is proud of his Southern heritage.

I can relate to that.

Mason graduated from Mountain Brook High School and moved a long way from home. He ended up at Pepperdine University in California to study acting.

He quickly discovered that people looked at him a little funny when he talked because of his southern accent. Mason also found that people in other parts of the country had a lot of misconceptions and stereotypical attitudes about the south.

I actually discovered the same thing about 9 years ago when I started traveling to different parts of the country to speak or to attend business meetings. My first impulse was to try not to talk so southern.

I got over that in a hurry. I can’t quit talking that way if I try.


But I learned that some people think if you talk with a southern drawl that there is a real possibility that you are not very smart. I also learned that many people from the south who move to other parts of the country work hard to get rid of their southern drawl. I think many do that so the people they work with or know won’t think they are stupid.

Just for the record, I don’t do that. In fact I do just the opposite. If I think people are looking down at me because of the way I talk I will talk more southern. I’ll start using some phrases that will cause them to go do research to find out what in the heck I was talking about. As they say in the corporate world, I like to get people to “think out of the box.”

There are certainly things in my in my life I am not proud of. But I am proud of being from the south and I know that some of the smartest people I know talk with a southern drawl.

So with your permission (or not) I will just keep right on talking the way I do.

Mason McCulley obviously had similar thoughts when he moved to California. This 23 year old created a tee-shirt to make sure everyone knew he was proud of being Southern. On the front of the tee shirt was simply the word (yol).

These shirts have caught on like fire. They are sold at selected retail outlets in Alabama, Lousiana, California and Georgia. They are also sold at his website http://www.yolthreads.com . In keeping with his Southern heritage, he also sold a ton of limited edition shirts where 100% of the profit went to help Katrina victims.

Another random act of kindness.

If you are from the south with a southern drawl or you are an honorary member because you hang out with people who are, go to Mason’s website.

Maybe you’ll find a Christmas gift there.

How 'bout a little fashion y'all?

Pay It Forward

This is really getting to be fun. My Movie/TV star niece Lindy Newton and her roommate are spreading the Christmas spirit in Los Angeles. They are about to blow a struggling single mom away with another random act of kindness.

You can read about what they are up to and how you can help by CLICKING HERE.

Or maybe their act of kindness will spur you to pay it forward with other folks.

Trevor, the 12-year-old hero of “Pay It Forward,” thought of quite an idea. He described it to his mother and teacher this way: "You see, I do something real good for three people. And then when they ask how they can pay it back, I say they have to Pay It Forward. To three more people. Each. So nine people get helped. Then those people have to do twenty-seven." He turned on the calculator, punched in a few numbers. "Then it sort of spreads out, see. To eighty-one. Then two hundred forty-three. Then seven hundred twenty-nine. Then two thousand, one hundred eighty-seven. See how big it gets?"

I am hearing from a lot of folks. Please keep posting your stories to this site. If you don't want to do that send me an email. Your stories of acts of kindness are inspiring people all across the country.

If someone does something kind for you, you now have an obligation. Instead of trying to pay it back - you pay it forward to three people.

And make sure each of those three pay it forward to three more people each.

Let's step it up.

Pay it forward.

We have only 14 days til Christmas.

She Did Have a Daughter Named Lucy

In keeping with my recent articles about acts of kindness, I am copying an email I received this week and a couple of emails that followed. I have left out last names and details to protect the privacy of the special lady who sent the email. But it is too inspiring not to share with all of you.

The act of kindness is the fact that Mary took the time to seek out a person who impacted her life as a child.

I haven’t spoken to my sister yet but I have a feeling she just received the best Christmas gift she will get this year. And it didn’t cost Mary a dime.

Thanks Mary. I haven’t met you but I have a feeling I will one day real soon. Your act of kindness inspired me this morning.

And I have a strong feeling many others will be inspired to practice other random acts of kindness as a result of yours.

______________________________________________

Mr. Goddard - My name is Mary. I am looking for my 5th grade teacher whose name was Naia Goddard Newton. She taught at Conley Hills Elementary School in East Point Georgia in the 60's. I was in the 5th grade in 1968-69. I am now an elementary school librarian in South Carolina.

In a training session last week the instructor asked us to think about who in our lives inspired our curiosity and love of learning. For years I have said 5th grade was my best year in school because the teacher made learning so much fun. She did creative things that were new to us and treated us like we were special unique individuals. I remember her husband bringing their enormous St. Bernard to play with us at recess one day, and she invited several students to her house for a little party one Saturday. I would love to write to her and tell her how much she meant to me.

I did a Google search on her name which led me to your web site.

I just wondered if she was by chance a relative of yours, and if so, if you would be willing to share contact information with me. I have NO idea how I knew or now remember that her maiden name was Goddard, but for some reason that sticks with me. (My brain is full of such useful data, but I don't always know where my car keys are…)

Thank you very much for your help!

I enjoyed reading the posts on your blog as well. My neice's husband is a firefighter in East Point, and your story about the Atlanta firefighter was very moving.

___________________________________________________


Mary, you have found the person you are looking for. Naia Goddard Newton (pictured here) is my sister. We call her Kikky and the husband you knew who brought the St. Bernard (Andy) to school died a few years ago. Kikky's last name now is Williams.

She will be delighted to read what you said and she will be in touch I am sure. She is still as wonderful as she was when you knew her almost 40 years ago.

I am copying her on this email. I will also send you a copy of my book and you can read all about her family as well.

Best wishes to you. - Bruce Goddard

_________________________________________________


Wow!! I am so thrilled to hear from you. I've often thought of the kids at Conley Hills and have wondered what happened to each of you. Bruce has told you below a little about me.

After leaving Atlanta in 70 we moved to Waycross, GA (near Jacksonville, FL)and were there for 37 years. I have 3 children (2 daughters and a son)and 3 grandkids (6 month old triplet girls). Need I say - I love those babies!!!

After retiring and remarrying, we moved to Lake Sinclair in Milledgeville, about 2 hours south of Atlanta. The triplets live in Atlanta so this works great for me!

You must know that after Andy, the St. Bernard, died, we got Andy II and Andy III during the years following. Now my son and his family have one and, yes, his name is Andy IV. He lives in the house with them!! Wonder where he got such a crazy idea???

I'm thrilled that you are the librarian in an elementary school. I know you love it and they you! I became a school counselor and spent most of my years working in this capacity in an elementary school. I truly loved it.


Now we are enjoying retirement and all the grandkids. My husband has 4 kids and 5 grandchildren, so with them all, we are busy running up and down the road visiting!!

Thanks so much for your sweet remembrances of our year together. It was fun and I loved it!! I do remember some of you coming to our apartment one day and if I'm not mistaken we had chocolate cake!!

Do let me hear from you.

Kikky Newton Williams

_____________________________________________


Thanks SO much for answering! I have thought of 5th grade so many times over my life and just remember it as a very special and fun year. I specifically remember you giving us a list of about 30 different ways to do a book report. I thought that was hugely fun, and I used some of the same ideas when I taught middle school English in Virginia in the early 80's.

I remember writing our own books and binding them with cardboard and contact paper. I felt like a real author. I even remember what mine was about! I remember that you bought every child in the class a small stuffed animal for Christmas and I thought you must be incredibly rich to be able to do that!

Mostly I remember that you paid attention to us and made me feel smart, special and cared for. My purpose of trying to find you was to thank you for touching my life in such a positive way and being one reason I do the work that I do now.

My journey to the library was not direct. I actually worked in the East Point Public Library during high school and always loved to read. I graduated from Headland HIgh School and went to Furman University where I majored in elementary ed, mainly because my parents insisted that I had to get a degree that connected to "doing" something! When I graduated I worked in Furman's admissions office for 2 years which was an awesome experience. I then married my college sweetheart and moved to Virginia for 6 years. He was a college sports information director. I did teach middle school for 3 years in Lexington, Va. where he worked. We then moved several times as he had trouble "growing up" and settling down to much of anything. I got a masters in counseling focusing on higher ed thinking that we would mainly be connected to colleges because of his work. To make a long story short, he lost a couple of jobs. I was offered a position back at Furman as Director of the Alumni Association. We moved back to Greenville and then divorced. It was painful, but was the right thing to do. I have one son who was 3 1/2 at the time. I loved my job, but found it harder and harder to be the kind of parent I wanted to be because I had to travel a lot and work weekends and weird hours.

My dad developed Alzheimers which cut off their role as my safety net for child care and support. Then my oldest sister died of cancer the year I turned 40. Somewhat impulsively I decided life was too short to spend so much of it working, found out I could get a master of library science degree through the University of SC via distance education classes in Greenville and just went for it!

I have not regretted a moment. School has always been a happy place for me, and I feel I am doing what I was born to do. My son is now a sophomore in college and doing great. He is majoring in history and political science and plays percussion in the marching band and other ensembles. He is the joy and light of my life. I have a great circle of friends and a second family in my church where I am very active. My mom and other sister live in Fayetteville which is not that far from you. I have several nieces and nephews in Fayette, Henry and Coweta counties as well.

I remember you saying you would like to have a daughter named Lucy, and wonder if you did that!

Thanks again for writing back. I was so excited to be able to find you because your brother's site mentioned you mom's name, Naia Goddard. I just took a chance there would be a connection. The Internet is pretty amazing (and a little scary at times) E-mail is such fun as well.

Take care, and have a joyful holiday season! Thanks again for being a positive part of my life!

Friday Night Emails

I got in from tonight after a great but hectic few days in Oklahoma City. I felt a little more tired than normal realizing I will head out again tomorrow for a speaking engagement.

It was cold when I left OKC today. I think it was just as cold in Warner Robins, GA. I was not in the best of moods as I walked in the house and landed in the chair in the den I’m sitting in now typing this.

I decided to check my email.

I read an email that confirmed the place I’m speaking tomorrow night. By the way it’s Pine Tree Country Club in Birmingham in case you want to come.

I deleted about ten emails from whoever the mystery person is who sends them asking if I want to order some Viagra. And I also deleted the emails asking if I want a penile enlargement. I think I get those every day. Have you ever wondered who in the heck sends those emails to everybody? And there were also the usual dozen from someone wanting to lend me money.

I had a bunch of the usual funny stuff I get. I laughed out loud at an email with the subject line “Peek a View” that my friend introduced by saying “way too funny.” The video that was attached starred Lou Rawls acting as a doctor about to do a colonoscopy. He is singing one of his famous love songs to the shocked male patient as he begins the procedure. The words go something like this: “You’ll never find as long as you live, someone who loves you the way I do.” He was using the colonoscopy tube as a microphone. It really was way too funny.

I read several emails responding to the last article I wrote about random acts of kindness. I also read the comments that were written on this blogsite as a result of that article. Those words made me feel like at least maybe this blog is causing people to think about the true meaning of Christmas and is causing people to be reminded of acts of kindness they have either done or experienced from others.
What great things for people to be thinking about.

I re-read an email my daughter in law forwarded to me earlier today to my blackberry that was a huge compliment to my oldest son from his boss. That one brought tears to my eyes and made me very proud.

So far I had done two of the things I wrote about a couple of days ago. I had laughed. I had cried. And now I was about to think.

I then read the email I’m about to share with you. It was sent to my email address but it was really written to my wife. I’m leaving the names out but it made me think again about the important things of life.

Hi Bruce and Kathy
I just wanted to tell you every year at this time I have a very special and joyful memory of one Christmas long ago that Kathy Goddard made a difference in mine and my son's life that touched me so deep. I have been teary eyed all day thinking about it. Kathy came up to me out of the blue that year and gave me a bunch of toys for my son. I remember he was very young at the time. I was struggling as a young single parent that year and I mean struggling too. Needless to say things were really bad financially and emotionally. I felt like giving up but I just didn't know how. I didn't have any thing for my son under the tree and I sure didn't know how I was going to get him any thing that year. We were barely able to eat. I thought it was the worst Christmas I had ever had. Kathy, I don't know how you knew but I'm still to this day VERY THANKFUL TO GOD that you gave my son a Christmas that year. Kathy I don't know if any one else sees your wings like I do. THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I LOVE YOU AND YOU TOO BRUCE!! MERRY CHRISTMAS.

I read those words to Kathy. And she cried.

We both had forgotten that Christmas. It was a very kind thing my wife did and she was glad she was able to do it. She hadn’t thought about it since the many years ago when she did it.

But it is obvious that our friend who wrote the email and who was the recipient of her act of kindness had not forgotten.

There is a lesson in that for all of us. We all have opportunities to make a difference in the lives of people we come in contact with each day of our lives.

The impact of a kind deed can last forever.

The other lesson is that Friday night emails have the ability to change the mood and attitude of the people who read them.

Y’all keep ‘em coming!

Acts of Kindness

Most of you have already started fighting the mall crowds to buy those special gifts for the people in your life. It can be hectic but it is also a joyous time of year.

It is the season for giving. As Christians, we give to each other because we are celebrating the greatest gift of all which is the gift of eternal life. We call in Christmas. That really is a reason to celebrate. But if we are not careful we will get caught up in all the trappings and we will miss the reason for the season

I have an idea and if we do it we will have the best Christmas ever and we will not miss the true meaning of Christmas. And the spirit of Christmas might even spread into the rest of the year in our own little worlds.

What if we make a conscious decision to practice random acts of kindness every day? It would be a wonderful way to get in touch with the joy of giving without expecting anything in return.

I was with a friend in a restaurant one day and he spontaneously bought lunch for a couple of students. He didn’t tell them he was going to do it or that he did it. He just paid for it when he paid for our meal. I never saw their reaction because we were gone when they got ready to pay for their bill. But I have a feeling that act of kindness caused those two students to be nicer people that day.

I also have a feeling that a single act of kindness sets a series of kind acts in motion.

It would be fun to come up with some ideas. Maybe we can leave some cash in an unmarked envelope for someone we know is struggling and cause them to breathe a little easier during this Christmas season. Maybe we buy toys and play Santa for a family we know is struggling and we know their kids won’t have much for Christmas.

Or maybe we can engage in a conversation with a lonely stranger we meet on the street or take clothes we never wear to someone who would be delighted to have them. Or maybe we help our neighbor hang their outside Christmas lights or help take them down after Christmas. Or pickup litter in a neighbors yard when we are walking in the neighborhood. Maybe we invite someone over to our home for dinner.

Or go visit a widow or widower we have known for years who we know is alone and lonely. And find something we can do to help them while we are there. Or maybe we take a gift to someone we never buy a gift for because they have been important in our lives. Maybe we leave an extra tip for the struggling waitress who is working two jobs to feed her children.

Maybe we make a point to speak kind words to someone who is being unkind to us. Or maybe we tell the people we love what they really mean to us. Maybe we even take time to write a letter and really tell them.

Maybe we just decide to make a conscious effort to be kind and practice random acts of kindness whenever we see the opportunity.

If we do, we will be rewarded with positive feelings and will be focused on the important things of life and the reason for the season. And the worlds we live in will be much nicer.

We have 18 days until Christmas.

Let’s make this the best Christmas yet.